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Board of Ed. considers graduation coach to cut dropout rate among at-risk students In its regular December meeting, the Washington-Wilkes Board of Education discussed school construction, tennis courts, school trips, and a graduation coach, and took action on several items. Superintendent of Schools Joyce Williams recommended to board chairman Ricky Callaway and board members Kay Finnell, Bob Guin, Kelly Powell, and Steve Albertson that they pay construction manager Claude Bolton a percentage of his contract, in consideration for the amount of work he put into the planning of the school complex. “Knowing how much he did, I recommend paying him 7.5 percent of his contract,” she said. After discussion, the board approved. The board considered two requests for out-of-state trips for high school students: the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando and a possible senior class trip to Grad Night at Disney World. The Superintendent pointed out that the Bowl trip request was late, with the Bowl on December 29, but the board approved the trip anyway. The board also gave approval for the tentative senior class trip to Disney World, although Williams said she had concerns about having enough chaperones for the trip. “We don’t want anyone to jeopardize their graduation,” she said, and added that Principal Andrew Jackson assured her that he would ensure sufficient supervision for the students. The Superintendent passed out information to Board members concerning the hiring of a graduation coach. There was state money in the budget for a dedicated full-time person to work with at-risk students to help save them from dropping out. Board members discussed the qualification for a graduation coach. Callaway stressed that it had to be “someone who could communicate with dropouts on their level.” Williams said that the board needed to write a letter of intent to the state BOE to hire a graduation coach. For the next order of business, Callaway opened bids for the refurbishment or replacement of the tennis courts at the high school. Three bidders submitted bids: Court Builders of America, Talbot Tennis, and Asphalt Athletic Surfaces. The bids included prices for resurfacing, for reconstruction, and for an overlay, and the information was too complex for Board members to easily grasp. They asked that Sheldon West analyze and display the options on a grid for easy comparison, and to bring the information to the January meeting, since no work could be done until warmer weather. The discussion of spending money on the old school complex prompted Board member Kay Finnell to remind the others, “We need to keep up what we have while we’re talking about building.” Williams assured her that they were committed to maintaining the old buildings in good shape. In old business, the Board approved its 2007 meeting dates as proposed at November’s meeting, and gave a final reading on policy revisions and adoptions. In the financial report, Chief Financial Officer Dean Ware reported a shortfall in GDOE funding, but the system was still in good shape. The income from the one-percent SPLOST, which had averaged $85,000 a month last year, was running around $109,000 to $115,000 a month lately.
The next Board of Education meeting will be on January 16 to avoid a conflict with the holiday.
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